Led by 31 points from Tournament MVP Tyshaun Crawford (7'1''-C-1999), the Augusta University Jaguars defeated Lander University 86-72 in the championship game of the Peach Belt Conference men's basketball tournament on Sunday. The Jaguars win the title for a second year in a row and third time in the last five years. They become the fifth PBC team to repeat as tournament champions, the first since 2018. With the win, the Jaguars (26-5) earn the PBC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Lander (22-9) were playing in their first championship game since winning the event in 2016 and are very strong candidates for an at-large berth to the NCAAs.
Lander began the game on a tear, opening up the game with a 22-4 run driven by the perimeter shooting of Jaylon Pugh (6'0''-PG). Pugh hit six three-pointers in the first five minutes of the game, including four in a row before Augusta put a point on the board.
But Augusta came back with a 14-2 run of their own, seven of those coming from Crawford including a three-point play with 7:48 to play in the first that cut the lead to 24-1
Lander led 28-21 when the Jaguars connected on three straight three-pointers, two of them from Miguel Arnold (5'10''-PG), that gave AU their first lead at 30-28 with 3:36 in the half. Lander tied the game at 36 on a three from Nigel Colven, but two Crawford free throws gave AU a 38-36 halftime lead.
Crawford kept the pressure up to begin the second half with back-to-back layups and scored the first six points of the half for Augusta. Lander cut the lead to three at 46-43 following a three-pointer from Jared Sherfield (6'6''-G-2000), but those would be the last points for LU for the next three minutes as Augusta scored 12 straight to open a double-digit lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
Crawford finished with 11 of 19 shots from the field for his 31 points to go with a game-high nine rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. Miguel Arnold added 16 points with Tyree Myers (6'1''-G-2000) scoring 11 with seven rebounds. Augusta shot 43% from the field in the game and held a 36-28 rebounding edge.
Pugh finished the game with 21 points, all on three-pointers. Tommy Moore (5'10''-PG) scored 12 while Sherfield added 11 and seven rebounds.

Courtesy of peachbeltconference.org

All-Tournament MVP: Tyshaun Crawford (7'1''-C-1999) of Augusta
Player of the Year: Frank Champion (6'7''-F) of N.Georgia
Defensive Player of the Year: Nelson Haskin (6'7''-F) of Columbus St.
Freshman of the Year: AJ White (5'10''-PG) of N.Georgia
Coach of the Year: Mark Vanderslice of USC Aiken

All-PeachBelt First Team 2023

Arnold

Bryant

Champion

Crawford

Horn

First Team
Miguel Arnold (5'10''-PG) of Augusta
Malik Bryant (6'3''-G) of Flagler
Frank Champion (6'7''-F) of N.Georgia
Tyshaun Crawford (7'1''-C-1999) of Augusta
Tehree Horn (6'3''-G-2001) of USC Aiken

All-PeachBelt Second Team 2023

Chavis

Haskin

McCoy

Sherfield

White

Second Team
Karl Chavis (6'6''-F) of Young Harris
Nelson Haskin (6'7''-F) of Columbus St.
Jalen McCoy (6'5''-G-2002) of USC Aiken
Jared Sherfield (6'6''-G-2000) of Lander
AJ White (5'10''-PG) of N.Georgia

All-PeachBelt Third Team 2023

Burwell

Cooper

Johnson

Myers

Pradia

Young

Third Team
Phillip Burwell (6'2''-G) of GSW
Jacob Cooper (5'10''-PG) of Lander
Tyler Johnson (6'2''-G-2001) of USC Aiken
Tyree Myers (6'1''-G-2000) of Augusta
Lenny Pradia (5'9''-PG) of Young Harris
Kyle Young (6'9''-F) of Flagler

PeachBelt All-Tournament Team 2023

Black

Johnson

Sherfield

Pugh

Arnold

All-Tournament Team
DeMierre Black (6'1''-PG) of Columbus St.
Tyler Johnson (6'2''-G-2001) of USC Aiken
Jared Sherfield (6'6''-G-2000) of Lander
Jaylon Pugh (6'0''-PG) of Lander
Miguel Arnold (5'10''-PG) of Augusta